Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-09
EX-SENATOR CoNKLING.
Ulls Quarrel with Garfield an 4
HIS Resignatton.

Al
floor of Congress has made. hin
q reputation as one of the brightest
If not the brightest, of the Western
members of the lower house, and hi
was close in the councils of the Re
publican leaders. Judge Belfort
called upon Garfield at Mentor shortl,
after his election, and urged upol
him the appointment of Governo
Routt as postmaster general, ant
presented the claims of the western
states in his behalf Senator Hill
Teller, and one or two other Colorad,
men went with him, and the part,
dined with Garfield, and rode witt
him in the evening to Cleveland in tn,
caboose of a freight train. Durin,
this ride Garfield turned suddenly t.
Belford, and said:
"What is the matter with Conk
ling?"
Judge Belford replied that he hat
heard no talk in political circles as t,
any trouble between him and Conk
ling and that he was not prepared tt
answer his question.
General Garfield then asked Judge
Belford to investigate the matter upor
his return to Washington and to le
him know.
This Belford promised to do anC
did. He tells me this is the first ink
ling he had received as to the exist
cnce OF any trouble between Garfield
and Conkling.
elbow about your talk with Conk
iing?"
81 had an interview with Conkline
upon my return to Washington. Sen.
ator Teller arranged the meeting, and
the interview lasted for an hour.
upon my stating that Garfield
thought theparty should be harmo-
nious, Senator Conkling said:
i" am not aware that the party is
inharmonious. We have carried New
York, Pennsylvania and Indiana, and
General Garfield has been elected
President of the United States. l
cannot imagine discord in an army SO
victorious as ours has been. If there
is to be any discord it will be becase
General Garfield considers the objec-
tio1s of mere omnibus-load of poll
ticiAns Of greater weight than the
opinion OF the whole party itself.
"'These objectors,' he went on,
remind me OF the grasshoppers in the
field, as described by Edward Burke :
''Their buzz fills the whole land, while
the great herds Craze on in peace and
contentment There are not enough
of these malcontents to justify letters
of administration being taken out on
their whole political estate
Senator Conkling then said that he
thought Garfeld's administration
would be a successful one, and he
would la;or to make it SO. There
could be no conflict between them
unless Mr.. Garfield precipitated
it. He had spent three years in con-
fiict with that man Hayes and if he
was to have trouble with Garfield
there would be no comfort to him in
public life. He would cheerfully
accept Garfield's appointments unless
it was plain that they were made with
view to war upon his (Conkling's
friends, and he was sorry for the spirit
which, according to Governor Foster,
prevailed in respect to the next senator
from New York whom he understood,
the President wanted elected as op-
posed to him."
Did Conkling believe this?"
"He said he did not, replied Judge
Belford, "and he furthermore said he
had no objection to Blaine's going into
the cabinet. He had no demands
upon the President, though he did
think New York should have the Sec
retary of the Treasury.
'As we ended the talk Senator
CoAkling emphatically said: 'One
thing l can assure you: If there is
any quarrel between President Gar
field and mys If it will be of his max
ing. | am tired of conflict, and have
only gone into them in the past be-
cause they have been forced upon me-
81 wrote the substance of this talk"
continued Judge Belford, ito General
Garfield at Mentor, and it was shortly
after this that Conkling was to meet
him'there. What was the result OF
the conference then held 1 do not
know. | know that this report of our
talk is correct, for jotted it down at
the time, and Conkling's part of it
was once published substantially as l
have given it to you. 1t was never
Sohbt1uiCIOu VI quSStiOHcuy
"Do you think Conkling resigned
with view of being re-elected?"
''No," replied Judge Belford, I do
not. am sure that his circumstances
were such that he needed to do so. He
was scrupulously honest man, and
his salary as senator was not large
enough to supply his wants. At the
bar he can make from ten to twenty
times as much per year with half the
vexation."
"Have you ever talked with him
upon his withdrawal from public
life?"
yes met him shortly after his
resignation at tie Fifth Avenue hotel,
and we breakfasted together. During
the meal l asked Conkling, Senator,
how, in the name of God, did you
come to commit such blunder as
you did in your resignation ?"
''Senator Conkling replied: Il COM
mitted no blunder, and you are hardly
justified in using that word. You rec
ollect the conversation we had during
my last days in the senate, when |
told you emphatically that / desired
to have no quarrel with Garfield or
his administration, and that | was
anxious for peace and quiet Sena-
tor Conkling then went on to say that
under the conditions which then ex-
listed he clearly saw that it was i'm
possible for him to continue longer in
public life; that there was only one
way for him to save himself from fin
ancial wreck and ruin, and that was
to go back to his Office, to open up the
shutters, and to nail on the door the
sign: aa
Roscoe CoNKLING,
Attorney-at-Law.
"I felt,' said he, that by pursuing
this course could escape a vast dea
of political annoyance, and might be
better able to render substantial aid